Every April, we paint a car, and this time around, we made an honest girl out of our '67 Mustang coupe, which made its first appearance in CC exactly two years ago. To refresh your memory, we picked up this lowly I-6/C4 commuter from its previous owner for $2,000. And it looked like what you'd expect from a 40-year-old car at that price. There were several layers of paint, some rust spots, and someone in the recent past was a regular practitioner of the "park by feel" method-reverse till you hit something, forward till you hit something, inch back, and ... you're good. As you'd expect, the front and rear of the car had more creases and folds than the entire cast of The Biggest Loser.

Over the last few years, we've featured mostly garage jobs for our paint stories, so this year we decided on a different approach. We sent the car to professionals, or at least professionals- in-training. We phoned our buddy Brian Ferre: bodyman, pinstriper, custom painter, and full-time instructor at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, who offered his services and those of his Collision Repair and Refinishing students. Cool-we'd have a team of builders just like the rich guys do.

The students killed themselves over the course of two and a half months and, with a lot of help from the guys at Year One, Goodmark, and The Eastwood Co, the result is a body and paint job much better than we'd even asked for. Watch and read as the saga unfolds.

AssessmentLike any major project, the first step in your paint job is to determine your desired outcome. Is this going to be a show car, a weekend cruiser, your daily driver, or a demolition derby competitor?

Our Mustang is going to be a track car and cruise-night driver, so it doesn't need to win any awards for looks. Having determined that, we decided against stripping the car to bare metal and planned instead to rough it up and straighten it out prior to its new coat of paint.

DisassemblyNothing earth-shattering here-taking things apart is usually easier than putting them back together. Devise a system to keep things organized when the time does come to reassemble. In our case, the students put fasteners and small parts in manila envelopes, marking the contents on the outside. It is also helpful to take pictures of things as they come apart. It will reduce your pile of mystery bolts left over after the job is done.

PAINT AND SUPPLIES PRICE LIST

DESCRIPTION

PN

SOURCE

PRICE

21-in. flexible sander

31144

Eastwood

$71.99

15-in. flexible sander

31143

Eastwood

{{{62}}}.99

6-in. flexible palm sander

31171

Eastwood

13.49

Durablock 6-piece sanding block kit

31160

Eastwood

53.99

Rhynolox 6-in. sanding discs {{{100}}}-pack {{{80}}}-grit

31357

Eastwood

25.99

Rhynolox 6-in. sanding discs 100-pack 120-grit

19616

Eastwood

23.39

Indasa 23/4-in. 80-grit paper 27.3-yd. roll

31375

Eastwood

17.99

Indasa 23/4-in. 120-grit paper 27.3-yd. roll

31374

Eastwood

17.99

Rust Encapsulator 1 qt.

16065

Eastwood

29.69

Evercoat Rage Xtreme body filler 1 gal.

31332ZP

Eastwood

40.99

Evercoat metal glaze 30-oz. bottle

31279Z

Eastwood

31.99

Masking paper 18-in.-wide 475-ft. roll

11275

Eastwood

29.99

Masking tape 1 1/2 in. 4 rolls

HY-815112

Top Guns

3.58/roll

Masking tape 3/4 in. 4 rolls

AME-PG27-3/4

Top Guns

2.41/roll

V2970S DTM epoxy primer

N/A

Meza

39.16

2804S urethane sealer 2 qt.

N/A

Meza

35.00/qt.

APS-22712 primer surfacer 1 gal.

N/A

Alsa

93.50

Basemaker 1 gal.

N/A

Meza

48.88

2400S Clear 1 gal.

N/A

Meza

128.27

About Trade TechLos Angeles Trade Technical College first opened in 1925 and is the oldest public, two-year college in the Los Angeles Community College District. Located on a 25-acre campus two miles south of downtown Los Angeles, it offers instruction in almost 90 occupational programs including welding, automotive technology, automotive collision repair and refinishing, motorcycle repair, and industrial welding. Check them out on the Web at lattc.edu.